The assassination attempt on a Republican ahead of the presidential election has heightened tensions in the nation. Rivals Joe Biden and Donald Trump on Sunday urged Americans to show solidarity after the incident.
President Biden said he would address the nation from the Oval Office later in the day, a move only taken in times of grave crisis, after his 78-year-old predecessor suffered an ear injury during a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
“Unity is the most elusive goal, but there is nothing more important right now,” Biden said in brief remarks from the White House, flanked by Vice President Kamala Harris and his Homeland Security chief.
The 81-year-old Democrat said Saturday he had a “short but good conversation” with Trump, who is his political rival and whom he often describes as a threat to democracy.
Biden said the motive of the attacker, 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, was still unknown and urged people not to make assumptions about his “crisis.”
Trump made a similar call a day earlier after he was escorted off the stage by Secret Service agents despite having blood on his face.
“At this time, it is more important than ever that we remain united,” Trump said in a statement on his Truth social network. He added that Americans must not allow “evil to triumph.”
The businessman further said that it was “only God who prevented the unthinkable from happening” and that he “won’t be afraid.”
Trump’s wife Melania called the attacker a “monster”.
Security failure?
Secret Service snipers killed Crooks after he fired several shots into the rally from a nearby rooftop. One spectator was killed and two spectators were seriously injured in the worst incident of political violence in the US in decades.
Biden said he had ordered a full review of security at the rally, as well as at this week’s Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, where Trump will be crowned the party’s presidential nominee.
Biden also praised the victim, Corey Comperatore, saying the victim was “protecting his family from bullets.”
Questions remain about the motive of shooter Crooks, whose body was seen on television on a lower rooftop of a building near a weapon believed to be an AR-15-style semiautomatic rifle.
According to American media, investigators found explosive material in his car parked near the incident spot, while the FBI also searched his house.
The attacker is believed to be a registered Republican and acting alone.
Her father, Matthew Crooks, told CNN he is trying to figure out “what the hell is going on.”
The shocking incident also led to criticism of security at the rally, particularly regarding how a presidential candidate could be targeted by a gunman from a distance of 150 metres, despite the presence of a large Secret Service presence.
U.S. Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi dismissed as “absolutely false” claims that they had refused to provide Trump with additional security ahead of the rally.
Shock waves
The attempted assassination of Trump has sparked outrage around the world, but it remains uncertain what impact it will have on the US presidential race in a deeply divided country.
Trump’s family is already promoting photos of the president raising a defiant fist to the crowd after the shooting.
Trump said he was “hit by a bullet that grazed his right ear” and heard a “whizzing noise.”
His narrow escape has sparked conspiracy theories and finger-pointing by Republicans. Potential Trump vice presidential nominee J.D. Vance claimed Biden’s campaign “rhetoric” “directly” led to the attack.
American politics has become increasingly hostile, with Trump building his image through inflammatory verbal attacks, and many Democrats expressing anger and disgust at Trump’s rise.
World leaders expressed outrage at the assassination attempt, with UN chief Antonio Guterres saying he condemned it “unequivocally”.
The United States has a history of political violence. President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in 1963, while President Ronald Reagan was shot in 1981 but survived.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)